With PT set to be removed from PS4, here's why you must download one of the cleverest free teasers in years.

We originally published this piece shortly after the game's release last year, explaining why PT was one of the best game reveals of recent memory, and why today it's an absolute must see before it disappears forever.

Announced to little fanfare, PT masqueraded as a demo for a new game from an unknown developer during Sony's gamescom press conference in 2014, but was soon revealed to be a playable teaser (hence the name, PT) for Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro's horror reboot, Silent Hills.

As a marketing ploy, it's created a tremendous amount of buzz for a dormant horror franchise, but it's also proven to be a captivating game in its own right, one that's unpredictable, challenging and undoubtedly terrifying, subverting the way games have approach horror for some unique and effective results.

It's entirely set in one small location

PT is remarkably small, set almost exclusively in a L-shaped corridor inside a house that loops on itself over and over.

Once you enter the end door, you then come back out where you started, which each new loop layering on new set of changes, from unsettling lighting to obscure writing coating the walls through to the presence of a ghost named Lisa, surprising the player with unpredictable and very effective jump scares.

Aside from a disgusting bathroom - and the game's starting room - that's the entirety of the game.

Konami

Konami

This is perhaps why PT is ultimately so effective. The game's repeating nature means the layout will quickly become familiar, but the way it warps and forces players to stay on their guard, with each new loop notching up the tension of what possible surprises could come next.

You cannot die, or fight back

Horror games have a legacy of also being survival, action-based games, tasking players to use what limited resources to fend off against nightmarish adversaries, with failure leading to an inconvenient temporarily loss of progress.

Konami

You cannot really die or fail within PT. While Lisa can jump at you, the attack either starts you back on the same looping cycle or simply gives you a good scare. While you can mess up a certain puzzle, walking through the end door will restart the loop and you can quickly try again. There's also a few fourth wall-breaking surprises, but when the game seems to be over, again, it keeps going.

There is no fighting back against Lisa, either. While recent horror games, such as Amnesia - and even some Silent Hill entries – renders players defenceless against pursuing adversaries, you could always use your wits and what's around you, such as a wardrobe to hide inside, to survive.

Interaction in PT is limited. All you can do here essentially is look and walk around a very confined space, leaving the player feeling completely vulnerable.

It's a challenging - and occasionally frustrating - puzzle game

PT is a more about exploring and puzzle solving rather than traditional survival horror, and it's a difficult and cryptic puzzle game at that. At certain parts of the game the next loop will only trigger if you investigate certain objects in just the right way – whether it's a radio playing cryptic messages, or a wall scribble that changes when you turn away – requiring plenty of experimentation and back-and-forth wandering.

The game's last puzzle has proven to be a particular source of frustration, with players undecided on a fool-proof strategy. Suggested solutions include walking a set number of steps, waiting for a bell to toll midnight, and even playing Metal Gear Solid sound effects through the console's microphone.

With the ghost threatening to appear, the last thing you what is to be exploring every nook and cranny for a possible solution, and it's that necessity to experiment in a place you're desperate to escape from that makes PT a powerful experience.

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